Beat the Three-Bets

It seems that everyone’s on a pre-flop mission these days, especially at six-max no-limit hold’em. Some people now three-bet (re-raise) with more hands than many people open-raise with. Gone are the days where a raise meant A-Q+ or 9-9+, and a re-raise was Jacks or better.

Perhaps I’m exaggerating, but there is no doubt that a new, more aggressive style of play has rapidly spread through online poker. People re-raise because of position and their situation far more often, at times disregarding their own cards and simply focusing on exploiting opponents’ weaknesses.

As a result of this change, we need to modify our response to being three-bet. We can no longer stick to our ABC game-plan and instead, have to assess several different aspects about the hand and our opponent. In the past, you would need a very good reason to continue with a hand after being three-bet. You would not be passing up much equity by folding too often.

Nowadays, if you stick to that thought process you will find yourself being pushed off a lot of pots needlessly, and effectively be run over. But before you respond, you must first think about why your opponent has three-bet you. There are a number of reasons for an opponent three-betting you pre-flop.

1 They have a very strong hand
2 They have a strong hand compared to what they think your raising range is
3 They have a half decent hand but think your range can’t stand much heat
4 They are squeezing light
5 They want control of a pot against someone they consider weak post-flop
6 They are generally three-betting a lot with random hands against some or all opponents (you included).

When there are this many reasons for someone three-betting it’s no good having a set of rules in your head, for instance ‘I will fold to a three-bet unless I have Q-Q+.’ Every situation is different, and requires a well thought out decision. You may be facing someone who will only three-bet with K-K+, or you may be facing someone who will three-bet every hand against you.

We first have to have a good understanding of what people at the table think of our own play. More accurately, what they consider to be our open-raising range, how aggressive they see us and how we deal with pressure. Once we have an understanding of what our opponents could be thinking we need to make a decision based on our knowledge of our opponent, stack sizes, our own cards and position. After you have considered all this you have to choose one of three options: You can call, you can fold, or you can four-bet (re-reraise). Let’s look at when to do each of these in order.

When to fold

If you have raised light then generally speaking, your best option is to fold if someone three-bets, especially out of position. It’s just not worth getting involved in pots against opponents where you are being asked to put in around 12 big blinds before the flop with a very marginal hand. Raising light is perfectly fine, but you have to be prepared to let the hand go if you run into trouble.

Another situation where you should often be folding is if you know your opponent only three-bets a very tight range. It’s no good continuing with a hand like A-J offsuit if you know your opponent only three-bets 3% of the time. A-J is well behind that range, and can be folded easily. Trouble hands like K-J, A-10 and Q-10 are horrible in three-bet pots. They are dominated by a lot of hands, and can easily bust you if you flop top pair.

When to call

By calling you lose control of the pot, but there are many scenarios where calling may be the best option.

1 Your opponent plays very predictably post-flop and can be easily exploited.
2 You have a monster hand and want to disguise it against a very aggressive post-flop player.
3 The bet was small enough to give you odds to see a flop.
4 You have a fairly strong hand that you don’t want to get too aggressive with pre-flop but that you think is often ahead of your opponent’s range.

In most instances, you should only call a three-bet when you have position on your opponent, unless you are playing to trap, as you’ll be check-folding a large percentage of the time out of position. There’s also an argument for calling a three-bet pre-flop against some opponents with the specific intention of raising their continuation bet post-flop, whether that be as a bluff on an uncoordinated flop, or if indeed you connected with the flop.

This move can be profitable against certain predictable, loose-aggressive players instead of four-betting them pre-flop. This strategy can be higher risk when performed as a bluff, but can also provide a greater return when it’s successful.

When to four-bet

The four-bet is becoming more and more popular to counteract the increasing frequency and lower starting ranges of three-bets. Stack sizes play a big part in decision making, as unless you and your opponent are playing deep, four-betting can sometimes commit a large percentage of your chips to the hand. Four-betting is fine when you think your hand is best (and you’re willing to call a five-bet shove), but is also good if you think that your opponent is three-betting light.

If you four-bet without a monster hand and end up being committed to a big pot, all is not lost. Not only do you have a chance (albeit often slim) to win a big pot, but you also send a message to the rest of the table that you can’t be bullied. They will learn if they want to re-raise you pre-flop they have to be willing to go all the way with it.

Conclusion

Three-betting is so prevalent in today’s game that it shouldn’t create the fear in players it once did. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t still be folding a large percentage of re-raised hands, but you should stop and think about your opponents’ action.

Although it’s still a powerful play that involves committing a fair amount of chips, given the right reads, notes and statistics, it can create opportunities to get into some big pots with poor opponents. No longer should you assume the three-bettor has a premium hand, but instead look at each individual scenario and make an informed decision. Pick your spots and don’t get bullied all of the time!